Threat of prosecution will prompt such a verbal blackout. So will plans to monetize an extended version of the hottest viral video since Paris Hilton made her cyber-introduction to the world.

No matter their motivation, the two Savannah State University students who sneaked into the Super Bowl two weeks ago and documented the act on video aren’t talking. As they revel in their sudden campus celebrity, they are troubled by the public reaction.

What they meant as a prank is a perversion in others’ eyes.

The National Football League wants photos of the duo tacked to post office walls. Quite a few readers of this newspaper agree they should be among America’s most wanted and that the editors who decided to report the sneak-in join them.

Guess now they’ll add this “blockhead” to that list.

These two aren’t the Salahis. Or the Greek warriors who once overran Troy from the belly of a horse statue. Or even Morganna the Kissing Bandit.

Call their actions criminal. Call it unethical. Call it a reflection on all that is wrong with our society, right up there with gangsta rap, the pregnant friend Barbie doll and TSA body scanners.

Then draw a deep breath and take a little advice from Sergeant Hulka, U.S. Army: Lighten up, Francis.

Double standard

The NFL reaction is predictable.

The No Fun League fines players if their socks slip down their calves, for goodness sake, and is gradually phasing tackling out of tackle football. Besides, condemning “Kobe and LeBron” — or Mojo and Malachi, as they refer to each other in the video — distracts from the absolute aberration that is the league’s security efforts.

The public backlash, on the other hand, is part amusing, part mystifying.

Does no one remember Dion Rich, the most notorious Super Bowl gatecrasher of all time?

Rich snuck into the Super Bowl 33 straight years. And a view from the stands never satisfied Rich. He joined Vince Lombardi and Pete Rozelle on the trophy stand following the first AFL-NFL championship game. He helped carry the legendary Tom Landry off the field following the Cowboys’ Super Bowl XII victory.

Where was the outrage over Rich’s gate-crashing? The masses celebrated his resourcefulness, even after his end run around security in the first post-9/11 game, a feat chronicled in Sports Illustrated. He’s posed as everything from stadium staff to a wheelchair-bound fan enjoying his dying wish to gain entry

Rich would have impersonated a cheerleader if only he’d had the legs for it.

But where Rich was the cute old-timer (age 72 in 2002) with the gate-crashing streak, Mojo and Malachi were college-age goofballs with video cameras strapped to their foreheads. How dare they storm the stadium?

Loud and clear message

Like 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, we haven’t heard the last of Mojo and Malachi.

They promised the director’s cut of their dastardly documentary at the close of their gatecrasher clip. And once the NFL’s prosecution threats fade, the duo will no doubt target other events.

They will lift their media blackout as well. Other, more high-profile, outlets want their story, and some of the more nefarious ones will be willing to write checks in exchange for interviews. Now that’s worth condemnation — and not just because we don’t do that here.

Here’s hoping they one day speak long and loud about security shortcomings. If you’ve watched the video, you know security personnel unwittingly enabled them in their sneak-in efforts.

The Super sneaks exploited a universal weakness at big events — once a game or show starts, guards drop their guard. The duo made their approach after kickoff and breached the stadium during the always-distracting halftime show. The NFL security provider needs to tweak its tactics going forward.

The video is deserving of angst, it just shouldn’t be directed at Mojo and Malachi. Since they won’t say it, I will.

Adam Van Brimmer’s column appears each Monday. He blogs several days a week at www.savannahnow.com and also is a social media regular @avanbrimmer on Twitter and Daddy Warbucks on Facebook.

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Fresh on the heels of his upbraiding of Savannahians Who Dare Dislike Paula Deen, Van Brimmer now scolds those of us who dare dislike the students that snuck into the Super Bowl, in what is the second of a series of articles telling SMN readers how they should feel about a subject that they have radically different feelings about.
I suppose if you have an editor like Tom Barton, this will pass for journalism at the SMN. But this is nothing but a glorified Comment, not a news item.

Not only is an article reacting to public reaction not news, this is the second time Van Brimmer has been on the wrong side of the proposition: trespassing is illegal and advocating it is irresponsible, and I am once again disappointed that the publisher of this newspaper allows civil disobedience to be condoned. As for this double standard Van Brimmer brings up, how pathetic: Dion Rich finally went to jail in 2005 for his antics, and while he had achieved something along the lines of everyday hero worship among people like Van Brimmer, he had his share of detractors, just like the Savannah State students. So Van Brimmer is wrong about that, too. To paraphrase Van Brimmer himself: the editorial guards at the SMN have dropped their guard in allowing this to pass muster, and the publisher needs to tweak his tactics in going forward. Sorry, Adam, this is a fail.

Why have the editors of this paper allowed a writer to add to the moral decay of our young people by rewarding BAD BEHAVIOR ?

I'm sure that there are more felonious people deserving of jail time, and wasting civil servants time messing with these clowns is not exactly a wise use of taxpayer funds,... but to reward people for bad decisions only leads to worse ones.

did it many time, does not excuse these two idiots doing it. 2Two wrongs do not make a right. People paid a lot of money to attend the Super Bowl and they snuck in which is the same as stealing. Security bears some culpability but the the two doofusses committed the crime. They should be prosecuted and forced to pay for the cost of the tickets. This is what our society has turned into. Rewarding bad behavior is becoming the norm. Where have all of our moral gone.

Could you post a link about Dion Rich's conviction in 2005, his charges and what he was finally convicted of? If remember right the NFL never convicted him of anything but instead threaten him with conviction if he ever come on the field again.

Sure Adam, that's the way to dismiss a criminal act and under play the action. Maybe if you had said the political endorsements of your paper are pranks, now that would be much more accurate. If these chaps had broke into a concert at the civic center, would you call that a prank also? How about the guy who broke into my car for some spare change, is that a prank Adam? Stick to what you do best: puff pieces on the real estate market in Chatham County.

There's a security guard at the front door of the Savannah Morning News. I'm sure that if these exact same Savannah State students snuck into their building that Van Brimmer and his employers would take a very different view on this subject. Or is this simply not funny enough for Van Brimmer to agree with?

This was a college kid prank. It's no different than those fair skinned kids throwing toilet paper across the campus of ASSU. It's no different than those fair skinned kids throwing paper across Windsor Forest High School. They are not charged with vandelism, are they?

My mother taught me to never attend a party where you must pay to get in and never crash a party or attend one when univited. She said, when you do the outcome is not good usulally. Did I ever disobey or ignore her, certainly. That is one way to learn a truth.

Totally agree Grateful Dude, Tybeenian and Southern Belle. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” Well, no one was watching and they didn't do the right thing. Oh, "college age"???
They look closer to middle age and they still haven't learned ethical behavior and have the audacity to advertise it. For someone to applaud their actions in this op ed piece speaks volumes about his own moral compass.

I simply said that any newspaper that has an editor like Barton will allow articles like yours. Then again, I'm not as good a writer as you are...which is why I am consigned to the Comments basement and not the masthead.

I love this. It's a shame that it has taken so long for the majority of readers to realize that Adam Van Brimmer is far and away the worst writer at the Savannah Morning News. He truly is. When he isn't being a condescending twit, he's writing the most formulaic articles (which are out-of-touch with the beliefs of most normal humans) possible. No, seriously. I would bet money that he has an outline he follows pinned to the wall of his stinky (because of the half-eaten TV dinner trays that no doubt litter his desk) cubicle. I've read nearly every article he's written for this paper, and they all follow the same exact intro, middle, and ending. All you have to do is plug in a few cliches, annoying and outdated parallels, and extreme contempt for your readers.

... I'll continue to be the worst writer so long as you continue to read nearly every articles I've written for the paper. It's not about whether you like me or hate me or agree with me or disagree with me, so long as you read me. And the TV dinner trays that litter my desk are fully eaten, thank you.

Adam, What they did was illegal - people have a right to be upset about you glorifying that act. You don't have a leg to stand on -

And for you other people who don't think it was a big deal - you are the problem with the decline in our society. Wrong is wrong is wrong. Even if it was just a joke...or a prank...they did it because they wanted to see a show that thousands of people had paid thousands of dollars to see. It is wrong whether you like it or not.

Unlike Timothy McVey and the other sweet Americans who turned with the Talibans to kill us,these college young men were totally descent, and they exposed our security vulnerbility. They created a great security training video for homeland security and for future super bowl security efforts. They should be paid!
All those thousands paid security personnel should be held accountable. Suppose they were like Timothy and the American-Talibans?